Spring-hinge.



No. 842,519. PATENTBD JAN. 29, 1907.

W. H. BROTHERS. SPRING HINGE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6. 1905.

In ven tor:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. BROTHERS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE COLUM- BIANHARDWARE COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SPRING-HINGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

Application filed December 6, 1905. Serial. No. 290.597.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BROTH- nns, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga, State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to springhinges which are double-acting inthe sense that they act to hold a door closed and also to hold it open,and the invention more particularly relates to screen-door hinges.

The object of my invention is to' rovide a simple, durable, andeffective spring-hinge the parts of which are readily assembled and theleaves of which are most suitably made of struck-up metal, suitablypivoted, and ac tuated by a spring.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, l will proceed todescribe the' same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a front elevation of my improved spring-hinge. Fig. 2 is arear elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the hinge with theleaves closed, aswhen the door is wide open. Fig. 4 is a section on theline 4 4 of Fig. 2 viewed from the left. Fig. 5 is a sectional view,line 5 5, Fig. 2, viewed from'the right. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectionof the hinge on the line 6 6, Fig. 2-, viewed upwardly. Fig. 7 is adetail sectional view, line 7 7, Fig. 8, showing a modified form of theinvention; and Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the modified form of hinge.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the

' hinge is provided with leaves or members a b,

which are advantageously struck and bent up from sheet metal. Theseleaves are re spectively provided with ears or lugs a b, so that theleaves may be pivotally connected by means of ornamental pins or pintlesc, which are preferably riveted to the ears or lugs Z). The leaves arepreferably provided with strengthening and reinforcing edge flanges (Z.The leaf a is rovided adjacent the leaf b with an out-War y-curved andapproximately semicylindrical cover or back portion 6, which is out ofthe plane of and substantially fills the gap between the main bodies ofthe two leaves by reasonof the fact that the edge of the said cover 6extends closely adjacent to the inner outturned edge of the leaf 1) andthat the outer ends of the cover extend in close juxta osition to theedges of cars or lugs b. T us a complete housing or inclosure isprovided for the actuating-spring f, so that it will be protected fromthe elements.

The actuating-spring f is composed of coils of suitable spring-wire, theends ofwhich extend tangentially to the coils in the same generaldirection. The said spring ends form arms f f, the first of which isfirmly and securely fastened to the leaf a, while the other constitutesthe actuating arm or end of the spring. For the purpose of mounting andfixing the spring in the hinge the leaf a at its portion intermediatethe .main body and the cover 6 is first made with transverse slits, andthen the metal is so formed and bent as that a longitudinal sleeve orsocket g is formed by that portion of the metal which lies between thetwo slits, whichslits by the straining and bending of the metal areformed into the open ends of the sleeve 01' socket. Said sleeve orsocket g is bent inwardly, while those portions of the leaf a which arebeyond the sleeve or socket are bent or depressed outwardly at g to forminner longitudinal grooves or depressions g which permit the arm f ofthe spring to be slip ed longitudinally through the sleeve or socliet.The outer end of the arm f is bent out of line at f with the otherportion of the arm, so that by the described combined means ofattachment the entire spring is securely fixed to and mounted in theleaf a and its cover e. By reason of the depressions or grooves g on theinner side of the leaf a there are formed on the outer face of leaf asubstantially semicylindrical or rounded beads 72., between which beadsat the open side of socket g a considerable portion of the length of thespring-arm f is exposed to view. Thus not only is the spring securelyand permanently mounted on the leaf a, but the manner of attaching itthereto gives a distinct and unique appearance to the exterior of theleaf, so that the source of the manufactured hinges will have a distinctmeans of identification. The actuating-arm f of the spring f has itsextremity inserted into a perforated boss 2', the perforation ex- 1tending, preferably, into the ear I), on which said boss is formed.

It is obvious from Fig. 6 that the spring, through the action of itsactuating-arm on the leaf b, throws the leaves into one plane, in whichposition the door will be shut, and that when the door is swung wideopen the spring will be strained until the door is almost thrown back toits full open position, and that as soon as the spring is strained justas much as permissible and the end of arm f has passed the dead-pointthe spring will then act in the opposite direction to throw the doorfully back into its wideopen position, there holding the door. Theaction of the spring, therefore, is to hold the door closed'and also tohold it wide open.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the actuating end f 2 of thespring is elongated and extended through both ears 0 b. The ear a wouldin that case require a segmental slot 7c to receive the protruding endof the spring.

The construction described enables the hinges to be cheaplymanufactured, and at the same time they will be both efiicient anddurable. They are preferably bronzed or otherwise suitably plated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- In a spring-hinge,the combination of two sheet-metal hinge-leaves provided withpivotally-connected ears, one of said leaves being provided with alongitudinal sleeve or socket closed toward the inside of the hinge andopen to the outside thereof, the said leaf having longitudinal interiorgrooves or depressions at the opposite ends of said sleeve or socket,and the other of said leaves having one of its ears provided with aperforation at one side of the pivot connections, the adjacent leafhaving a curved slot and a spring having two arms, one of which isinserted through the said sleeve or socket and seated in said groove ordepression, and the extremity of the other of which arms is insertedthrough the said perforation into said slot, for substantially thepurposes set forth.

Signed at Cleveland, Ohio, this 27th day of November, 1905.

WVILLIAM H. BROTHERS.

WVitnesses:

MARGARET RILEY, THOMAS BIGGERSTAFF.

